Conveying apparatus.



J. T. GOWLEY. CONVEYING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT! 12, 1906.

Patented June 1, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l ZQibzesses:

' J. T. COWLEY. GONVEYING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1906.

Patented June 1,1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. T. COWLEY. CONVEYING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT, 12, 1906.

Patented June 1, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. T. COWLEY. CONVEYING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1906.

Patented June 1, 1909.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

J. T. COWLEY.

CONVEYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12, 1906.

, 923.33% Patented June 1,1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

chairs and the like Fig. 2 is an elevation of.

unrTEn sTaT s PATENT Osman.

JAMES T. COWLEY, or BOSTON, MASSAUHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To LAMSONCONSOLIDATED sToRE SERVICE COMPANY, or N WARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATIONOF NEW JERSEY.

CONVEYING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1909."

Application filed September 12, 1906. Serial'hTo. 33%,267.

Terr llwhom it mayconcern:

Be it known that-L'JAMEST. COWLEY, of

Boston, in the county'of Suffolk and State-of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements iii-Conveying Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a spccificasimple apparatus of the kind refcrredtowhich wi 1 be particularly adapted to trans port .chalrs and the likeconslderable tances.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 ]S a diagram of an apparatus forconveying disa portion of my improved apparatus showing the cable, thetracks and two of the carriers hereinafter described; Figs. 3 and 4 aredetails of the carriage Figs. 5 and Bare details showing theconstruction of the apparatus at the turns or bends in the track Figs.7' and 8 show the cable driving mechanism of my improved apparatus;Figs. 9, 1O, 11 and 12.

are'details of the cams of the cable driving apparatus shown in Figs. 7and 8 and Figs. 18, 14 and 15 show the construction of the driving chainof the mechanism shownin'the Figs. 7 and 8.

Referring to. the drawings, 1 represents an endless tracksupported atintervals throughout its length by hangers 2 fastened to the ceiling orother fixture of the building within which the apparatus is arranged.track 1 is an endless cable 3'supported at intervals throughout itslength by carriages or chair carriers 4, traveling on the track 1.

At 5 in Fig. 1 is indicated the driving mechanism shown in Fig. 7, whichmechancomprises a body 51 supported by four I wheels 6. At the middle ofthe body 51 is an 3 5 aperture 7 through which extends the shank i riersalong the track 1.

ism drives the cable 3 so as to propel the car- The track 1 is in mostpart made up of two angle irons fixed to the lower ends of the yokes ofhangers 2, said yokes being large enough'to tracks 1.

Asshown in Figs. 3 and 4 each carrier chairs and the like from one pointAbove permit the passage through them of the cab e and the,

of a chair holder'8,'herein shown as a hook.

At its upper end the hook 8 is made with a head 9 resting on the top ofthe body 51 and yieldingly held against rocking on said body by a spring10. The lower end of the hook 8 is adapted to engagethe chairor otherarticle the apparatus is to handle, and is covered with rubber toprevent injury to the article.

Fixed to the top of the body 51 is a bracketv -1 1,11aving an upwardlyextending tongue 12 made on its'top face witha socket'13 into which thecable 3 is bent and rig-idl'y'held by clam s 14 secured to thebracket-11., In,

this fashion the carriage is fastened securel to the cable so as to movewith the latter. Projecting from the top side of the carriage 1 is apost 14 carrying at its upper end a loose roll 15 to cooperate with anauxiliary each bend arranged substantially parallel tothe bend-in therails to laterally support the cable at these points. is arranged belowthe shives '17 in position to engage the rolls 15 on the carriages asoas to hold'theclamps 14 out of contactwith the shi'ves' 17, as thecarriages pass around the bends. The auxiliary rail 16 extends only fromthe beginning of the bend to the endingof the latter, as shown in Fig.5.-

The purpose of employing the curved series of small shives 17insteadof asingle shive as heretofore, is that with a single small shive theradiusof the bend is necessarily short and therefore the bend is abrupt,so that the resistance which these bends offer to the movement ofthecable 3 is much greater where a single slnve is employed than where acurved series, such as I have described, s employed.

With the latter the radius of the curve is not limited and can be madeso large as'to greatly reduce the resistance which thebend offers to themovement of the cable. 4 This is particularly desirable where thecableis of great length, as in the present instance, and where there may bemany turns and bends in the track, and economy of space'is desirable.

The auxiliar'y'rail 16 The mechanism for driving the cable 3, as

shown in Figs. 7 to 15 inclusive, comprises an belt indicated by dottedlines at 23.

on any, suitable fixture;

' tance along with the cable to the other pair of sprockets, where theyleave the cable and return to the first point again. The grippers 19, asshown in Fig13 are pivoted on brackets 24, and have arms 25 connected bya spring 26, which serves to hold the two jaws of each gripper together.The arms 25 carry rolls 261 which cooperatewith cams 27 and 28 placedinthe path of said rolls, so that each gripper is opened by cam 27 as itdescends toward the cable, and as soon as the gripper passes said cam itis closed on to the cable spring 26 and remains in engagement with saidcable until the cam'28 opens thegripper,

which occurs just before the gripper is shifted away from the-cable bythe passage of the chain 18 around the sprockets shown at the right handof. Fig. 7. Development of the I two cams 27 and 28 are shown in Figs.10

and 12 respectively, and the arrows in said figures show the paths ofthe rolls 261. These cams 27 and 28 are wedge-shaped and positioned soas. to pass between the two rolls 261 of each gripper as the lattertravels with the carrier 18. The cams 27 and 28 also are hung on theshafts 2'1'and held rigidly in place by brackets 27 f, to.wl1ichthe camsare fastened at 28 That portion of track 1 in the immediate neighborhoodof the chain 18 ismade up, as

- shown in Fig. 8, of two channel irons on the top of each of which isfixed a steel plate 1 These two plates serve to support the lowerstretch of the chain 18 that extends between the two sets of sprockets.The lower flanges of the channel irons serve as tracks for the wheels ofthe carriages 4, which latter pass between the two channel irons. I Bythis peculiar' driving mechanism a much more powerful grip is obtainedon the cable 3 than is possible with a single driving shive or drum, andtherefore. this mechanism is particularly adapted to drive a very longcable-where the resistance and load is great.

Having thus described my invention withoutattempting to set forth allthe forms in which it may be embodied, or all the uses. to which it maybe applied, what I claim is:

1. In a conveying apparatus the combination with the cable, ofcable'propelling mechanism comprising a traveling gripper carrier andnormally held in a closed position grip bends.

pers mounted'on the carrier; and means independent of the carrieradapted to control the.grippers so as to open said grippers to grip thecable as they approach the same, and to open said grippers to free thecable, as they the carrier.

2. In a conveying apparatus thecombination with the cable, of cablepropelling mechanism comprising a traveling gripper carrier and normallyheld ina closed position; grippers mounted on said. carrier; two cams inthe path of the grippers, one foropening said grippers as the-latter arebrought into engagement with the cable, and the other for.

opening the gripperswhen the latter are carried away from the cable, andmeans to operate the carrier.

leave the same; and means to operate 3. In a conveying apparatus thecombina- I tion with the cable, of cable propelling mech anismcomprising a traveling gripper carrier; a plurality of spring controlledgrippers mounted on saidcarrier and each normally held in a closedposition; two cams arranged in the path of said grippers, one foropening the grippers as they are brought into engagement with thecableand the other for opening the grippers when they are moved away from thecable, and means to operate the carrier. 7

4. In a conveying apparatus the combination'with the cable, of cablepropelling mech anism comprising a traveling gripper carrier; aplurality of gripper jaws pivotally mounted on the carrier armsconnected with said jaws; two cams. arranged in the path of said arms,one for separating said arms to open the gripper jaws as the .latterapproach the cable and the other for separating said arms to open thegripper jaws as the latter leave.

the cable.

5. In a conveying apparatus the combination with the cable, ofcablepropelling mechanism comprising a traveling gripper carrier;

gripper jaws pivotally mounted on said carrier and arranged in pairs toreceive the cable between them, arms connected with said jaws; two camsarranged in the path of said I arms, one for momentarily spread ng saidarmsand the'jaws connected therewith as the latter approach the cable,and the other for momentarily spreading said arms and the jaws connectedtherewith as the latter leave the cable, and means to operate thecarrier.

6. In a conveying ap aratus the combina tion with an end'less'ca le;driving mecl1anism for said cable; carriers attached to said cable; anendless track alongside the cable for supporting the carriers; means tosupport the cable laterally at the bends in the track,

and an auxiliary rail atsaid bends for engagmg and guiding the carriersaround the "7 Ina conveying ap aratus the combination with an endless cale; driving mechanbends so as to hold the carrier clear ot'said cablesupporting means.

8. In a conveying apparatus the combination with the cable and track, ofa carrier mounted on the latter, made with a socket through which thecable extends, and'hztving clamps to bend and liX the cable in saidsocket.

9. in a conveying apparatus the combination with the cable and track, ofa carrier mounted to travel on the track; an aperture through saidcarriage; a chair holder or the,

like extending through said aperture and made at itsupper end with ahead resting upon the top rim of said aperture, and a spring foryieldingly holdingthe said head against rocking movement on the carrier.

10. Ina conveying apparatus the combination with the cable and a curvedtrack, of a carrier mounted on the track and attached to the cable; aseries of guide shives alongside of the track and parallel therewith forsupporting the cable laterally, and an auxiliary rail alongside of thetrack for engaging the carriage and holding the latter clear of saidshives.

11. A driving chain for cables made up of links arranged in oppositerows and carrying pairs of cable gripping jaws adapted to lodge andprevent the slipping of the cable when in engagement therewith; a springfor holding each pair of jaws normally closed; and arms connectedwithsaid jaws for operating the latter.

I 12. In a. conveying apparatus the combi-' nation with the cable, of atraveling grip per carrier; grippers mounted on said carrier; astationary cam in the path of the grippers for opening the latter toengage the cable and a stationary cam in the path of said grippers I foropening the latter to disengage the cable, and two cams being separatedso that a plurality of grippers are maintained always in engagement withthe cable and means to operate the traveling carrier.

13. In a conveying apparatus, a cable, an endless traveling grippercarrier, grippers on said carrier for engaging and driving said cable,means for driving said gripper carrier, means in the path of the grippercarrier for opening the grippers to engage the cable, and independentmeans in the path of the gripper carrier for opening the grippers torelease the cable.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this eighth day September A. D.1906.

JAMES T. COWLEY.

VVitn'esses:

' DELIA S. PETERSON, WILLIAM W ILCOX.

